Adjustable standard



O. LUETKE.

ADJUSTABLE STANDARD.

(No Model.)

No. 390,381. Patented 001;. 2, 1888.

Price.

PATENT OSCAR LUETKE, OF BROOKLYN, N FAV YORK.

ADJUSTABLE STANDARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,381, dated October 2,1888.

' Application filed June 8, i888. Serial No. 276,499. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, OSCAR LUnTKn,of Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Standards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vertically-adjustable standards, such as are used for supporting lamps, book-rests, 850.; and the object of my invention is to provide a newand improved standard of this kind which is simple in construction and is automatically locked in position at any desired elevation,and which can be readily unlocked to permit of raising or lowering the lamp or book-rest.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts and details, as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of my improved adjustable standard,parts being broken out. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail vertical transverse sectional view of the locking mechanism, the same being disengaged from the outer tube. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the locking mechanism engaged with the outer tube. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal sectional view on thelinetrac of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The exterior tube, A, of the standard is provided with a suitable base, B, and with a cap, 0, having a central aperture, through which the inner or sliding tube, D, can pass. On the upper end of the sliding tube D the head E is fixed, which has a transverse slot, F, in one end of which the lever O is pivoted, the opposite end of the lever being curved downward at the op posite end of the slot to form the handle G". Said lever G is provided a short distance from its pivoted end with the downwardly-projecting cam H, that rests upon a washer, I, on the upper end of a sliding rod, J, within the inner tube, D, the upper end of said rod passing through the bore E, extending from the slot F to the bottom of the head 1*]. On the lower end of the inner tube, D, a cylindrical box, K, is secured, having two slots or apertures, K, in its bottom, through which slots or apertures the two prongs L of the lower forked end of the rod J can pass freely.

From the bottom of the box K two bars or rods, M, extend downward, and are connected at their lower ends by a bottom plate, N. Directly below the bottom of the box two gripping-jaws, O, are pivoted between the upper ends of the bars M, and are pressed against the lower ends of the prongs L by spiral springs I, interposed between the bottom plate,N,a11d said grippingjaws, studs being provided on said bottom plate'and the under sides of the jaws for the purpose of holding the springs in place. The head E is provided onits top with a. screw or other suitable device for holding and securing a lampbody or a book-rest, &c.

The operation is as follows: NVhen it is desired to raise or lower the lamp, the head Eis gripped by one hand and the handle end Got' the lever G pressed toward said head, whereby the cam part H of the lever G is moved downwardandpressesdownward the r0dJ,theprongs L of which press downward the grippingjaws O, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the outer edges of said jaws can clear the inner surface ofthe exterior tube, A, thus permitting ofmoving the tube D up or down within the exterior tube, A. WVhen the lamp or other article on the upper end of the tube D is at the desired elevation, the head is released,and the springs P, which have been compressed, immediately expand and swing thegrippingjawsO upward and outward, so that their swinging ends can engage and grip on the inner surface of the tube A, against which they are pressed by the action of the weight of the tube D and the article supported by the same. Fig. 3 shows the parts in this position, the lever E being raised as the rod J is pushed upward by the gripping-jaws 0.

As I have two gripping-jaws, the tube D, when released, is at all times locked securely in place, and cannot descend, even under the action of a very great weight, for the reason that the grip of the jaws O on the sides of the tube A increases with the weighton the tube D.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a tubular stand ard, of a sliding tube in the same, two opposite gripping-jaws pivoted at the lower end of said sliding tube, springs for swinging said jaws upward and outward, aslidingrodwithin the sliding tube, the lower end of said sliding the grippingjaws, a head on the upper end of i5 rod being forked and the shanks of the forks the sliding tube, into which head the upper resting upon the said gripping-jaws, and a leend of the slidingrod projects, and a lever ver at the upper end of the sliding tube and pivoted within aslot of the head and acting on 5 acting on the sliding rod within the sliding the upper end of the sliding rod, substantially tube, substantially as herein shown and deas herein shown and described. 20 scribed. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my 2. The combination, with a tubular standinvention I have signed my name in presence ard, of a sliding tube within the same, two opof two subscribing witnesses.

1o posite grippingjaws at the lower end of said sliding tube, springs for swinging said jaws OSCAR LUETKE' upward and outward, a sliding rod within the WVitnesses: sliding tube, said rod having its lower end OSCAR F. GUNZ, forked and the shanks of the fork resting on CARL KARI 

